Drawing hands

Derwent pencils and an oil pitt on fabriano.
Once again I am testing this paper to see what it can take.
This drawing was made with finely sanded minen leads which tend to
chisel into the paper. So far so good this paper is taking quite a bit of abuse
and still performing well.

Thanks for looking :)

Drawing "The Kiss"..

This work was completed using derwent pencils, minen leads and my old favorite the oil pitt pencil. This is a drawing of a protest made by ordinary citizens of a riot torn city against government troops sent to impose order. Rather than enter the conflict with violence the women protested by kissing and blessing the troops and reminding 

them of their humanity. 

Thanks for looking :)

Plein air painting of the tide out at Youghal...

oil on canvas 30 x 20

I had the opportunity to meet up with the South West Plein Air painters on Sunday11th

in the seaside town of Youghal and despite the odd rain shower and strong wind it was a 

fun day out.I managed to get in this one of a small little harbor in the town and a few 

sketches also.

Thanks for looking :)

A drawing of Rembrandt's, "Man in Armour"

This was done last night at the second birthday of the Cork Drink and Draw group 

using minen leads HB and 6B on 150gm cartridge.

 Thanks for looking :)

Painting the River Blackwater Lismore Waterford

Oil on oilboard 30 x 40 cm.

This is the river Blackwater at Lismore Co. Waterford.
It is the scenery from a popular walk that starts in the town and loops
back again as it passes the river.

Thanks for looking :) 

Oil painting of the beach walkers..

Oil on oil board 12 x 16 inches.

This was painted from a scene I saw at
Mulranny beach Co.Mayo.


Thanks for looking :)

Pencil portrait video demonstartion

This is a video demo of a portrait drawing using a variety of pencil types.
oli pitt, pitt graphite, derwent and minen leads. I hope you enjoy it.


Thanks for looking :)

Pencil Sketch of a Rembrandt portrait..

Sketched in pencil from the painting

 "Rembrandt's self portrait as Saint Paul"
Size 12 x 8 inches on acid free cartridge paper.
For this work I used Derwent pencils, minen leads and Pitt graphite
on 150gm acid free cartridge pad.

Thanks for looking :)

A couple of plein air sketches..

I got involved this week with the Plein Eire group's, seven day drawing challenge. 

Complete a plein air drawing each day for one week. 

Of the  drawings I managed to fit in, these I think, are my favorites.

Both were completed using Derwent pencils, and a medium oil pitt

on 160lb acid free cartridge.

Thanks for looking :)

Oil study of detail from a Guido Reni.

oil on oilboard 34 x 18 cm

This is a study of the face of Deineara from a Guido Reni
Oil on oilboard 6 x 4 inches. This started as an exercise that I wasn't
really taking seriously. I had a very small canvas and just figured I'd scribble a bit and
very quickly I became caught up in the work. Its easy of course when you have a picture of the original work by Reni to study from, so I can't actually take any credit for this. However it was alla prima and I was surprised to get some resemblance of the original without going to any great lengths. Mostly I used raw umber, burnt sienna and cadmium yellow. A very slight touch of rose madder to heighten the reds.

Thanks for looking :)

Watching the rain fall on Glantaneatnagh

Oil on Gallery wrap canvas 10 x 12 inches. Another work painted from the Boggeragh Mountains.

Thanks for looking :)

Painting plein air in the Boggeragh Mountains..

This is a plein air I was fortunate to get in this week, in the Boggeragh Mountains.

I have been painting around the same area for three days as the scenery is so marvelous 

and the weather so mild.

Thanks for looking :)

Drawing the view of Carrigagulla from Kilcullen

This is a pencil sketch of Carrigagulla on the edge of the Boggeragh mountains done
with Derwent pencils and Minen leads.

For the distant hills I used hard 9h, 6h and 2h while the closer views 

were achieved with soft 7b and 5b. It was a little large to post on the page here so
if you need to view it in greater detail you just click on it.

Thanks for looking :)

Sennelier oil landscape painting

Another  piece using the sennelier oil pastels,
as I have mentioned earlier the colors available in this medium
are just fantastic, once you have a small range of them you find it
impossible not to use them. They are a little messy though so I recommend
using something to move them around the board. A palette knife or rubber
tipped mover should do the trick.

Thanks for looking :)